State representatives introduce House Bill 10

Bipartisan legislation aims to support Fair School Funding Plan

State Reps. Jamie Callender, R-Concord Township, and Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, recently introduced House Bill 10, bipartisan priority legislation to support the continued funding and full implementation of the Fair School Funding Plan.

Sponsored by Callender and Sweeney during the last General Assembly, the measure was first signed into law as part of House Bill 110 in 2021.

The Callender-Sweeney funding formula is “the culmination of two decades of work between members of the legislature, educators and school districts to complete a comprehensive overhaul of how Ohio funds K-12 education.”

According to a news release, Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget proposal would appropriate the next two years of funding for a six-year planned phase-in.

Moreover, HB 10 supports the continued implementation of the funding formula and, if practical, fully phases in the Fair School Funding Plan by the end of fiscal year 2025, which would finish the “complete, systemic overhaul” of the state’s school funding system that the Ohio Supreme Court required when it found the system unconstitutional four times, beginning with the landmark DeRolph decision in 1997.

“With this legislation, we are living up to our commitment that every Ohio student should have access to a quality education,” Callender stated.

“We have made great strides in recent years, but we must see this through to the end,” Sweeney added. “House Bill 10 keeps our promise to Ohio’s children, communities, and taxpayers….Ohioans can’t afford to wait any longer for the state to fully and fairly fund public education.”

The Commitment to Fair School Funding Plan builds on its “strong, bipartisan momentum” when HB 110 passed the House by a vote of 84-13 and the Senate by a vote of 32-1, officials noted.

Additionally, the legislation reads:

“It is the General Assembly’s intent to continue the phase-in of the school financing system established in HB 110 of the 134th General Assembly, known as the Fair School Funding Plan until that system is fully implemented and funded. If the General Assembly determines that it is reasonable and practicable, it shall be fully phased into the extent that it is practicable to do so.”

The release stated that House Bill 10 has been referred to the House Finance Committee for further consideration.